''His Birthright'' is a 1918 American drama film directed by William Worthington for

Haworth Pictures Corporation Haworth Pictures Corporation was a film studio established by Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa in March 1918. Haworth Pictures Corporation was Hollywood’s first Asian-owned production company. Filmography * ''His Birthright'' (1918) * ''The Tem ...

Sessue Hayakawa , known professionally as , was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man i ...

produced the film and played the lead role. The rest of the cast includes

Marin Sais Marin Sais (born Mae Smith; August 2, 1890 – December 31, 1971) was an American actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. Sais' acting career spanned over four decades and she is possibly best ...

, Howard Davies, Mary Anderson, and Hayakawa's wife

Tsuru Aoki was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career was most prolific in the United States during the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1920s. Aoki may have been the first Asian actress to garner top billing in American motion pictures. ...

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, Yukio is a Japanese-American whose father, a naval officer, failed to return to his mother after the honeymoon. The mother commits

harakiri , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese Kanji#Readings, kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their Bushido, code of honour but was also practised b ...

and the son becomes determined to kill his father and goes to America. Influenced by a female German spy, Yukio steals an important document from his father, who is now an admiral. Rebuffed by the woman and ashamed to have sunk to the level of a thief, he then decides to recover the paper. He does so after a desperate battle with the woman's colleagues and returns the document to his father, who descends upon the place with police and captures the spies. Yukio announces that he came to take his father's life, but the admiral tells him that he loved Yukio's mother and did not return to her as he could not find her. Taking his place as the admiral's son, Yukio is now determined to join the U.S. army and fight in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a cause in which Japan and America are united.

Cast

as Yukio *

as Edna Kingston * Howard Davies as Adm. John Milton * Mary Anderson as Helen Milton *

as Saki San *

Sidney De Gray Sidney De Gray (16 June 1866 – 30 June 1941) was an English actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1913 and 1940. He was born in England and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * '' Luke's Fi ...

as James Barnes (credited as Sydney De Grey) *

Harry von Meter Harry von Meter (March 20, 1871 – June 2, 1956; sometimes credited Harry van Meter) was an American silent film actor. He starred in about 200 films in the period from 1912 through 1929. He retired from acting just as sound films were beginni ...

as Adm. von Krug *

Mayme Kelso Mayme Kelso (February 28, 1867 – June 5, 1946) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 70 films between 1911 and 1927. She was born in Columbus, Ohio, and died in South Pasadena, California from a heart attack ...

as Mrs. Harland Smith

Preservation

A partial copy with three reels exists at the EYE Film Instituut Nederland film archive.Progressive Silent Film List: ''His Birthright''
at silentera.com

References

External links

* 1918 drama films 1918 films Silent American drama films American silent feature films Films directed by William Worthington American black-and-white films Haworth Pictures Corporation films Mutual Film films 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub